Anne of Modern Gables
by WildMeetsDi
Summary: "...And we take our heroines and whisk them into a modern world, a modern Anne of Green Gables. Read along to see how they change, act, and what happens to our favourite scenes in this particular book."


Anne of Modern Gables

Mrs Rachel Lynde is Surprised

Rachel Lynde sat on her chair, with a cup of tea in her hand, watching from her window. It was her daily routine, and her sharp eyes would observe every little thing. They would immediately notice if something was beyond ordinary, because Mrs. Rachel Lynde knew everything, and if she didn't she would eventually.

So she sat, drinking from her cup, making sure that everything was normal- that everything was the way it should be.

She watched the children coming home from Avonlea's school house, chatting away. Mrs. Rachel muttered that Jane Andrews' hair was looking unattainable and that she ought to have tied it up. "And Ruby Gillis really should get rid of the jewellery; it looks absolutely awful with such clothing."

She watched as every single child got their new phones out, texting away happily while plugging earphones in to listen to music. "In my childhood, there was no such thing as smartphones," she muttered to herself. "The things children own nowadays..."

She watched as Jennifer White walked down the hill to Barry's pond. "Off to meet Alec Sloane, I suppose," Mrs Rachel Lynde said to herself. "I heard that they've been together for a while, it must be time for him to propose to her. That'll be an expected wedding, to be sure."

She watched as a little brown cat stalked its way down the street, looking rather lost. "Well, I suppose Mrs. Barry has left the door open for it to walk out again. She should really keep an eye on him. He's always wondering around, goodness knows where he has been!"

She could see the trees that surrounded the Cuthbert house. It was a rather plain looking place, not really beautiful in Mrs Lynde's opinion. Of course, Marilla wouldn't hear of it being painted. She had plainly told her she liked the way it was. It had been like that the day she had arrived there and it would stay that way 'til the day she died.

Mrs. Rachel Lynde thought she was being awfully stubborn.

However, on this particular day she was looking out for Matthew Cuthbert, who should have been instructing his employees in planting turnips. Mrs. Lynde husband, Thomas, was teaching his employees how to do it, and Matthew should be doing it as well. However, he wasn't, and Rachel wanted to know and Matthew were both in the Avonlea farming company. They were both given a few junior employees, whom they had to teach how to farm for the company.

But here Matthew Cuthbert was, climbing into his car at half past-three in his best suit and collar, which was plain proof that he was going out of Avonlea. Also, he had just stopped to fill the gas tank at the station across Mrs. Lynde's house, which proved that he was going quite a far distance. Where was Matthew Cuthbert going and why was he going there?

If it had been any other man in Avonlea, Rachel Lynde would have deftly pieced things together. But Matthew hardly left Green Gables, so it must have been something important pressing him to leave. He was a very shy person, never really speaking to people. Matthew wearing a white collar and going out in his car was something that didn't happen often. Rachel pondered, but could not make anything of it. It was spoiling her afternoon.

"I'll just go over to Green Gables after tea and find out why," she said to herself, sighing. "If he ran out of turnip seeds he wouldn't dress up, and if he was fetching a doctor he would have gone at a much higher speed. I'm very puzzled, that's all, and I won't get peace until I know what's happening!"

And right after tea Rachel Lynde set out, turning off the old country music that was blaring out of the stereo. She did not have far to go, as Green Gables was only a quarter of a mile from her house. It was a large white building, clean and bare, with not a speck of dirt visible anywhere. Matthew and Marilla's father had been as shy as Matthew was, so he'd chosen to build his house at the very edge of his land, so nobody could see it much. It was barely visible to the main road, where a highway was being built close to it. Rachel Lynde did not call such a place a dwelling.

"It's just staying, that's what," she said as she stepped into the lane, where beautiful flowers stood. There was a little video camera there: the Avonlea community did not want anyone stealing flowers, as those particular flowers were prize flowers. "I guess they've just gotten used to living here," Rachel muttered to herself again, stepping out of the lane into the backyard of Green Gables. The backyard was very, very clean, with no dirt on the grass or anything stray there. There were two video cameras in the backyard, installed by Marilla, who was scared for their safety. Rachel thought that Marlla swept the grass the same amount of time she swept the house. People could have eaten a meal out of the grown without finding a speck of dirt in their food.

Rachel Lynde rapped smartly on the front door, hearing old country music coming out of Marilla's stereo. At least they had that thing in common-they both loved country music. Without waiting for Marilla to answer, she opened the door and walked right into the kitchen.

The kitchen of Green Gables was cheerful… well, it would have been cheerful if everything weren't so painstakingly clean. Even the air-con, little stereo and stoves were bright white. Its windows looked east and west; through the west one, looking out on the backyard, came a flood of June sunlight; but the east one, where you could catch a glimpse of beautiful white-red cherry trees. There sat Marilla Cuthbert, with the air-con right above her and her computer in front of her, where she was reading an online Avonlea Times article. The table right behind her, white as well, was laid out for dinner.

Before Rachel Lynde had fully closed the door behind her, she had taken note of what was at the dinner table. There were three plates laid, so Marilla must have been expecting someone with Matthew for tea, but the dishes were just everyday dishes, and the plates were not fancy either. The food was normal-some chicken with rice and one tiny slice of cake-so the person must not be very important. This mystery in un-mysterious Green Gables was making Rachel Lynde rather dizzy!

"Good evening, Rachel," Marilla said briskly. "This is a great afternoon, isn't it? Have a seat. How are you and your husband?" she asked.

Something that was a bit like friendship existed between Rachel and Marilla. It was just that their dissimilarities tended to spark an argument between both, as the only thing they usually agreed on was old country music.

Marilla was a tall, thin woman, with angles and without curves; her dark hair showed some grey streaks in it, as Marilla could not be bothered to dye it. It was always tied up in some sort of bun with hairpins stuck aggressively through it. She looked like a woman who could not take a joke, but there was something with her mouth that twitched ever so slightly every time something funny happened, so people didn't always think that way.

"We're pretty well, Marilla, pretty well," Rachel replied, nodding. "I was actually afraid that you weren't well, as Matthew went off in his car. I thought maybe he was going to the doctor's."

Marilla's lips twitched ever so slightly. She had expected Rachel to come over, as the sight of Matthew going out in a car was just too much for Rachel Lynde's curiosity.

"Oh, no, I'm quite well, even though I had a bad headache yesterday," Marilla replied. "Actually, Matthew went off to Bright River. We're getting a little boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia, and he's arriving on the train tonight."

If Marilla had said that Matthew was going to Bright River to collect two hundred smartphones along with earphones that were made in China, Rachel wouldn't have been more surprised. She actually went dumb for a little while, and thought that Marilla was making fun of her, but Rachel was almost forced to suppose it.

"Are you out of your mind, Marilla?" she demanded when her voice came back. This act had been done without her advice, so it must be disapproved of-supposing it was even true.

"Well, we've been thinking about it for some time now; actually, all winter!" returned Marilla. "Mrs. Alexander Spencer was up here one day before Christmas, and she said she was going to get a little girl from the asylum at hopetown in the spring. So Matthew and I have over and over ever since then. We thought we'd get a boy. Matthew is getting older; you know, he's sixty, and he isn't as active as he once was. His heart troubles him a lot, so much that we had to bring him to the hospital last summer to get an operation! Plus, he really wanted someone that would inherit his job and help him to train the employees. There's never anyone that can help besides those stupid French boys, and they are a nuisance! Too hyper, they are. Matthew was going to get a London boy, but I said 'no' flat to that. They might be better than those French boys, but I still don't approve of them! So I told him that if we had to get a boy, we should get a native born one at least. There's still a risk, definitely, but I think it's safer to have a Canadian. So in the end we decided that since Mrs. Alexander Spencer was coming over, she could bring us an orphan. So we sent an email to her, and she replied last week saying that she was coming over today with her little adopted girl and our orphan. Mrs. Alexander Spencer will drop him off at White Sands station, so Matthew is going there to pick him up."

Rachel couldn't believe her ears. Here, Marilla Cuthbert was adopting an orphan! Out of all people, Marilla was the one people would least expect to do such a thing. And she had

"Well, let me tell you Marilla, that the boy might not be loyal to you. Why just last week I read in the newspaper that an adopted boy had stolen every electronic in the house; even the T.V. was stolen! He was also never found. I wonder where he went with the electronics," Rachel Lynde said, perplexed.

Marilla was not bothered by Rachel's news and went on reading her online newspaper.

"I do have to agree that there are some negative things on adopting an orphan. But Matthew was so set on it that I had to give in." Marilla replied.

"Well, I hope it turns out alright." Rachel said, in a tone that indicated that she had many doubts. "Why, I heard that an orphan put a bomb inside their adoptee's house! Only that was a girl." Rachel said, shaking her head.

"Well, we're definitely NOT getting a girl. We don't need one." Marilla said.

Rachel would have liked to stay longer to see this orphan, but seeing that it might take over an hour, she decided to go off and have a long phone call with a friend of hers. It would be very interesting gossip, and Rachel loved to spread gossip.

With a short, curt wave, she bid Marilla goodbye and left, pondering over how stupid Marilla could be to adopt an orphan.

But little did she know how special this orphan would be...

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**A/N: Well, hope you like that! Di wrote some of it too, and I loved the part that she wrote. I hoped you enjoyed it, and please R&R!**

**-Wild-**


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